Woody's Toys Inc, owners get prison terms for money laundering

The Diamond Bar owners of a Industry-based toy wholesaler, Woody's Toys Inc, were sentenced Monday to a total term of 14 months in custody for their role in a Black Market Peso Exchange scheme.

Dan "Daisy" Xin Li, 44 of Diamond Bar, co-owner of the toy company, was sentenced today to eight months in prison, followed by six months of home detention. She was remanded into custody following her hearing, according to federal prosecutors.

Authorities said Black Market Peso Exchange, like the one in this case, is an underground money-transfer system that enables international drug trafficking organizations to launder narcotics proceeds.

"This sentence should leave no question about the high price businesses will pay for complicity with narco traffickers," said Claude Arnold, Homeland Security special agent in charge. "The reality is, unscrupulous companies that help cartels cover their financial tracks are contributing to the devastation wrought by the international drug trade. What's more, Mexico's new, tougher currency transaction laws will likely make trade-based money laundering schemes such as this increasingly attractive for the traffickers, demanding that law enforcement be even more vigilant. "